


Collapse

by ReginaNocis



Series: Obscure Love [41]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Darcy Lewis, Clint Barton & Kate Bishop Friendship, Deaf Clint Barton, M/M, Not Happy, Sorry Not Sorry, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 23:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13445589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReginaNocis/pseuds/ReginaNocis
Summary: An explosion in the lab leads to tragedy and tears. (Not a happy ending. )





	Collapse

Natasha stood in the doorway of Clint's apartment, watching the domestic scene as it played out. It wasn't often that Sam was in New York, so to see him in Brooklyn was a surprise on it's own. To see him in Clint's kitchen cooking breakfast with Kate while Clint made them all coffee was more than she had expected of the morning. Clint noticed her first, of course. "Nat, what are you doing all the way over there? Your coffee is going to get cold," he called, smiling. It was so rare to see him happy after everything that had happened, and she couldn't help but smile back. They hadn't been expecting her, but somehow Clint always knew when she was going to show up.

"When did you get back from your mission?" Kate asked, kissing her on the cheek as she brushed by to grab a mug.

"Last night," she told her. "Steve wanted to debrief before we parted ways, and I chose to agree this time. It's easier to let him think he's winning."

"That is so true. It's good to see you," Sam greeted. He offered her a plate and she accepted. "I'm headed over to the tower later tonight, to touch base with Steve and make sure Stark isn't blowing anything else up."

"Since Pepper hired Darcy, he's been considerably better," Clint offered. "I live there part-time still, and there are significantly less explosive emergencies. Actually, he's spending time outside of the lab. Darcy tells me about movie nights that I miss, and Stark has been in attendance at almost all of them."

"He's paying attention to someone that isn't himself?" Natasha asked, impressed. "I need to be introduced to Darcy Lewis. I couldn't even manage that when I was posing as his assistant."

Breakfast was quiet, something they all needed. Kate told them about her latest classes, Sam talked about his therapy group in D.C., and Natasha told them as much as she could about her latest mission with Steve. Clint watched them all happily, content to be spending time with his family. If they noticed him being uncharacteristically quiet, they didn't say anything. The trip to Stark Tower was just as quiet, which should have served as a warning sign. Everything was quiet until they made it into the lobby. Almost as soon as the doors closed behind them, the entire building shook and all of the lights went out. The lights came back on immediately, but they were flashing in the pattern that Clint knew to mean 'Code Green'. The building was immediately sent into evacuation mode.

"Katie-Kate, go back to the apartment. Call Hill and let her know that we might need back-up," Clint said immediately. "This isn't something you need to be involved in just yet. One of us will call when it's safe to come back."

"In case you've forgotten, all three of you are also fragile humans. I've had at least as much training as Sam, and I'm good with every weapon known to man. I can, at the very least, help people evacuate," she pointed out, crossing her arms. "And arguing with me is wasting valuable time. Code Green means Hulk is loose in the labs, where there are armies of fragile human interns and scientists that are going to need help."

"Let her come," Sam told Clint, already pulling Redwing out of his bag and activating the mechanical bird. Clint gave her an unhappy nod, snapping his bow into shape. Natasha had already pulled guns and knives out of her hiding places, unzipping her jacket to show her combat outfit already in place.

"Do you sleep in that thing?" Clint asked, but he was hiding a smile. She rolled her eyes at him, ignoring the question as she activated her widow bites. They made it to the stairs at the same time as Captain America made it to the first floor.

"Goddamn elevators shouldn't shut down in a Code Green," he huffed in greeting. They all immediately fell into place behind him. "Makes things a lot harder than they need to be."

"Language," Natasha taunted, smirking. Clint considered saying something about how she'd so obviously positioned herself in front of Kate, but decided to let it go for the time being. He'd taunt her about it later. As long as Kate didn't take offence to it, they'd all be fine.

"Don't start," Steve warned her, but he was smiling. "It was one time, and in the heat of battle. Also, it was two years ago."

"It's never going away," Clint promised him. "Do we know who all is down there?"

"I know Tony is, and obviously Bruce. I think Ms. Potts had just gone down to get Tony to sign something for Stark Industries. From what I understand, the board of directors is trying to push him out again. She's not happy. If I had to guess, I'd say that's why the explosion happened. I don't know if Darcy was down there or not; she'd left to get food about forty minutes ago, and I haven't seen her come back yet. Then again, I wasn't watching. And I know Dr. Foster is with Thor, because Tony still hasn't found a way to successfully sound-proof their room," Steve informed them. "I don't know if there are other interns or not. I'm hoping that's it."

"So we need to evacuate Pepper and Tony, and calm Bruce down," Natasha summarized.

"And hope that the structural damage is minimal," Sam added. "He's blown up enough things down there to make me worry."

"It's a lab, so it would be reinforced quite a bit, right?" Kate asked. The silence was not reassuring. "Who is doing what?"

"Redwing will distract the big guy while you guys get Tony and Pepper out," Sam offered. "Clint, do you still have the tranquilizer arrows that Tony gave you?"

"They're in the lab. He wasn't done tweaking them yet. They'll have to be good enough for today, though," Clint told them. "Unless we've got a different trick up our sleeves."

"We don't," Steve said shortly. "We need this to work."

The scene in the lab was far worse than they'd been hoping for. The ceiling was partially caved in, and Hulk was in the very center, towering over everyone. He appeared to be holding the ceiling up rather than smashing anything, which was the only good thing about the situation. It meant that Bruce had enough control to manage the situation without hurting anyone. Tony was unconscious, and Pepper was kneeling beside him checking his pulse. Darcy was standing over them, acting as a barrier between them and the other interns who were down there. In total, there were seven other interns with a variety of injuries. Two of them were unconscious.

"Ms. Potts, how badly is he injured?" Steve called from the entry. He'd stopped them from entering immediately to assess the situation and decide the best course of action.

"He's just unconscious. He probably has a concussion is all," she called back. "I'm more worried about Travers. He took a blow to the head and hasn't moved. Darcy says he's barely breathing."

"I can't get him to wake up," she confirmed. "He needs to go first."

"Sam, take Travers up to medical and alert them to the situation so that they can be prepared," Steve ordered. "Natasha, get to Pepper and help her get Tony into the stairwell. Sam and Kate, get to the other interns and help Ms. Lewis evacuate them. Take the injured to medical, and get everyone else out. When you're all done, make sure the rest of the building is empty. Stark Tower is no longer structurally sound."

"It should be fine," Pepper told them. "Tony has each floor reinforced. The lab collapsing will only hurt the floor directly above it, which is a different set of labs that are under construction. Anything above that or below us is perfectly safe. It's one of the security features I talked Tony into when he told me he wanted the Avengers to move in."

"Smart," Clint told her, grinning. He'd lifted Travers easily and was just starting for the stairwell when a large section of the ceiling broke off above him. None of them had time to make a sound before it landed, effectively trapping Clint and Travers inside a small cave-like area.

"Clint!" Sam shouted, trying to run into the lab after him. Steve grabbed him around the middle and practically threw him back into the stairwell.

"We're okay," Came the muffled reply. "Well, I'm okay. Travers is still barely breathing. He's stable for now, get everyone else out before this place collapses." Steve took him at his word, not knowing any better. The others could hear the poorly disguised pain in Clint's voice, but only Natasha knew how bad it was. She'd been on enough life-or-death missions on which Clint had gotten himself mortally wounded to know what it sounded like. They'd always made it through, but she didn't like the odds this time.

"We need to be careful. Maybe we should wait until we have more help," Steve started, but the look that Natasha gave him had him taking a step backwards. "Or not. Let's just get everyone out, like we planned."

Pepper already had Tony propped up, and Natasha got him upright with no trouble at all. He was somewhat conscious at that point, so it was relatively easy to get him into the stairwell. Up the stairs was a different story, but they were managing. Darcy had started shoving the panicked interns towards the stairs, and she wasn't having much trouble. Kate joined her, and together they got everyone to the door. Sam was the only one who didn't follow Steve's orders. Instead, he made his way over to Clint.

"Clint, tell me what's hurt," he called. He tried to see through the cracks, but it was too dark. Clint's silhouette was hunched over, and he was definitely no longer holding Travers. "Tell me what you need."

"I'm fine, Sam. Get everyone out," Clint ground out. The pain in his voice was much more obvious this time.

"You're clearly not fine," Sam pointed out, unable to hide his worry. Natasha made her way back over to him, tapping his arm to get his attention. She gestured for him to evacuate, but he shook his head. He wasn't going anywhere without Clint. "I want to help you, but I can only do that if you let me."

"You'll help me by getting everyone out," Clint told him. "I promise it will be okay." Natasha shook her head at Sam's questioning look, unable to lie to him. If they left Clint without any medical help for much longer, she knew he wouldn't make it. They were pressing for time as it was. The problem was that Hulk was the only one strong enough to shift the rocks, and he couldn't drop the ceiling without crushing both of them. There would be no winning this one.

"Everyone is out," Natasha told Clint, carefully pushing her hand through one of the wider cracks. He gripped her hand tightly, tapping in Morse Code to tell her what his injuries were. She knew immediately that it was already too late. Clint couldn't survive this. She wasn't even sure that Steve would have been able to survive those injuries. "Clint, I'm going to leave you alone with Sam. I'll make sure you have privacy. The only other person in this room will be Hulk, because he can't currently leave."

"Thank you," came the whispered reply. He knew, then, that it was hopeless. He was about to die. Natasha worked quickly, shoving Steve out ahead of her and closing the door behind them to give them as much privacy as was possible.

"Clint," Sam said softly, tears in his eyes. "You're going to be fine, right?"

"The pipe through my stomach says otherwise," Clint said lightly, trying to make it seem like he was okay with this. As if he could be okay with dying that day. Sam knew better, but it would be cruel to point it out in Clint's final moments.

"I don't even know what to say," Sam admitted. "I can't imagine a future without you."

"I was going to propose tonight," Clint confessed. He was doing a better job of hiding the pain in his voice. Or maybe it was that he wasn't feeling much pain anymore, Sam wasn't sure. "I had it all planned out. When you told me last week that you were coming back for a while, I bought the ring and made reservations at that Italian place you love. Kate even picked out a decent outfit for me."

"Clint," Sam whispered, openly crying now.

"The ring is in my pocket, actually," Clint continued. "Can your hand fit through any of those holes?" Sam immediately pushed his hand through the largest one, not even feeling the pain as the jagged edge sliced into his palm. He felt Clint slipping the ring on. "This is probably my worst timing ever, including the time I gave Bobbi divorce papers on Valentine's Day, but... Sam, would you do me the honor of becoming my husband?"

"Of course," Sam told him, voice raw with emotion. Neither of them mentioned that it would never really happen. Sam would wear the ring for the rest of his life, but he would never be able to marry the love of his life. He'd lost Riley all those years ago, and now he was losing Clint. It hurt more than he could ever describe.

"You should go," Clint told him. "Get to safety so the big guy can get out of here. Let everyone know that I love them, okay?"

"Of course," Sam agreed. He didn't let go of Clint's hand.

"I love you," Clint told him, completely serious. "I always did, from the very beginning. There never would have been anyone else for me. I'm notorious for making bad decisions, but you... you were the best decision I ever made." He tried to pull his hand back, but Sam still refused to let go. He made his decision, knowing without a doubt that it was the right one. He couldn't let Clint die alone, and he didn't want to live in a world without him. This time, he was going with him.

"I love you, too," he told Clint. He met Hulk's eyes and gave a short nod. Hulk looked back at him with perfect clarity, a sadness Sam didn't know he could feel echoing back. After a few moments of tension, Hulk nodded back and let the ceiling fall.

 

 

The memorial service was smaller than it should have been, given that two of the fallen were Avengers. Travers' entire family was there, along with Laura Barton and her children. Her husband, she told them, wasn't interested in seeing his brother's dead body. They were no longer close enough that it would be appropriate. She was representing Clint's family herself. Of course, Natasha and Kate were there representing his true family. Sam's therapy group were doing their own memorial, so they weren't attending the official one. Steve was there for him, along with the rest of the team. The press wasn't invited, and there was an abundance of security to make sure they couldn't get in. The only member of the Avengers who refused to attend was Bruce, because he felt responsible for their deaths.

"You knew, didn't you?" Kate asked Natasha quietly, gripping her hand tightly. Natasha nodded. "Why didn't you do anything?"

"They deserved the right to make their own decisions. When Nicolai died, I wanted to die with him. He was my first love, and I thought he would be the only person in the world who could love a monster like me," she admitted, smiling at the indignant look Kate gave her. "I was wrong, of course. I am so lucky to have you. But Sam lost his first love many years ago. I know that if our roles had been reversed, and it was you who was about to die, I would have done the same as him. I don't want to live in a world without you."

"But I wouldn't want you to give up your life for me," Kate protested. "Clint couldn't have wanted that."

"Do you believe for one moment that he would not have done the same?" Natasha asked, raising her eyebrows. Kate sighed, shaking her head. "There would have been no stopping it. If he hadn't died in the lab with Clint, he would have gone shortly after. Once you lose the will to live, death just seems to find you."

"And you're just fine with all of this?" Kate asked in disbelief.

"Of course not," Natasha told her, staring into the distance. "I will always miss Clint. He was my partner, my best friend. No one can ever take his place. But I can't live in the past, and neither can you. They wouldn't want that for us."

"Are you saying we should just forget them?" Kate asked, frowning. Natasha smiled softly.

"No, never. I'm saying we should live as though they are watching, as though they have never left us. In spirit, they never will," she replied. Kate nodded, wrapping an arm around Natasha to steady her. Natasha leaned into her gratefully, watching as they lowered her best friend into the ground. Nothing would ever be the same, but they would survive. There was still so much to live for.


End file.
